Set Fire to the Third Bar
by dancerbabe18
Summary: Based loosely on the song "Set Fire to the Third Bar" by Snow Patrol.  Not a song fic.


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the song "Set Fire to the Third Bar".

Hermione pulled the hood of her robes farther down around her face and slipped into an alley way. After making sure she was alone, she pulled out a map and lit her wand. She looked, trying to figure out where she was. She had apparated to this tiny village, hoping to lose the death eaters tailing her. With any luck, they wouldn't be able to track her here.

She sighed and drew a line with her finger to where she knew he was. He was on the other side of the country. They were separated by so much: rivers, farms, county lines, and millions of people. She felt a familiar pang in her heart. He was so far away. She measured the distance with her fingers. When she looked at it that way, they were only a couple of finger lengths apart. No more than a few inches.

She sighed again and scolded herself for being stupid. Now was not the time to pine away for some boy. She was madly in love with that "some boy", if she was being completely honest with herself, but there was more important issues at hand. Like staying alive.

Hermione slipped back out onto the high street and checked behind her to see if she was being followed. She couldn't see anyone in the lazy, falling snow, but that did not reassure her.

She passed a brightly lit pub and felt a longing for those carefree nights she spent with her friends. They would drink and laugh and enjoy each other's company. If they drank enough, sometimes they would dance in the pub with no music.

She stopped and turned back to the pub. Maybe she would get a drink and have a moment of peace. She didn't have to stay long and she could hide in a corner to avoid bringing attention to herself.

She entered and hung her coat up by the door. So much for a moment of peace. The bar was actually quite crowded and loud, despite the tiny village it was in. There were several people, gathered around wooden tables, laughing and having fun. Their laughter penetrated her like a knife. She had been in solitude for so long, constantly on the run. It had been several weeks since she had been around a group of people. The noise was already giving her a headache.

However, the crowded pub had its uses. She would be able to blend in better here. No one would pay attention to her.

She walked up to the bar and placed her order. Next to her, there was a group of extremely drunken men having a debate about some new scientific discovery. Hermione snorted quietly to herself. The men were too drunk to make any sense. Their debate was essentially a bunch of ramblings.

After getting her drink, she edged her way around the groups and settled at a table in the corner. She had a good view of the entire room as well the door. She was not going to be caught by surprise by anything.

As she sipped her drink, the babble around her was just noise to her. She couldn't really pick out anything particular being said, nor did she try to. She felt separate from this group of people, like they were a bunch of ghosts. Or maybe she was the ghost. Once again, she felt a pang of longing for her friends.

Over the din in the pub, Hermione could almost actually hear his voice. She let it wash over her like a lullaby. The last time they were together, he had seemed distracted and nervous about something, but she didn't pay attention to it. They had each received new assignments and were leaving the next day. There was a chance neither would make it back alive. Before they parted, he had leaned down to her ear and whispered that he loved her and to come back safe to him. He promised her that when the war was over, he would take to far away to some deserted island and spend time together.

Hermione looked down at her drink and tried to blink away the tears. She longed to be with him, away from this war and all of the pain it caused. She was tired, tired of everything. She wanted to run away with him and never come back. She longed to fall asleep in his arms and feel his warm, soft skin embracing her.

But she still had much she needed to do, still farther to travel. Her dreams would have to wait.

Suddenly, she heard a loud bang and her eyes darted to the door. Entering were the Death Eaters that had been chasing her earlier. She cursed under her breath and berated herself for her stupidity for stopping at the pub. The laughter changed to screams as the Death Eaters started to throw curses at the unsuspecting patrons.

She ducked under her table and tried to apparate out of there. She wasn't able to go anywhere. The Death Eaters had probably placed an anti-apparation jinx around the town. She would have to think of another way out of there. She looked out from under the table and saw she was close to the door leading to the back of the pub. There had to be an exit there. Maybe she could sneak off and run far enough away so she could apparate. She looked around again. It seemed like her only choice. She knew she could not fight so many Death Eaters alone.

She crawled to the door and almost made it when she was spotted by one of the Death Eaters. She stood and began sprinting at full speed through the back of the pub. The Death Eaters were right on her tail. Her heart soared when she saw the back door. She might be able to make it.

She flew out the door and kept running through the snow. She ran towards the nearby forest, hoping to find a place to hide from them. As she reached the forest, she glanced behind her and couldn't see any of the Death Eaters behind her. She kept running, trying to put more distance between them.

A few minutes later, she stopped and stood in the shadow of a huge tree to catch her breath and to see if she could apparate yet. She couldn't. How much further did she need to go? They usually didn't cast this big of an anti-apparation spell around the villages they attacked.

All of the sudden, she heard one of the Death Eaters call out that he had found her. Several jets of light lit up the dark night as they flew towards her. Hermione stood frozen with shock as she watched the jets of light hit her. She crumbled to the ground and began to cough and twitch.

As she lay on the cold ground, she knew that she was dying. She didn't know what spell they hit her with, but she knew she was in no condition to try and escape again nor did she have the strength to heal herself.

Her thoughts turned to him again, wondering what he was doing so many miles away from where she was. She hoped that he was safe. She wished that she could see him one more time.

As the world began to go dark, she prayed to anyone that might hear, that something, anything, would pick her up and place her in his warm arms so they could spend the rest of time on their deserted island away from the pain and suffering of war. She smiled at this thought and closed her eyes. Maybe in the next life, they would be together on their island.

A.N. I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a review for me! Thanks. :)


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